Christianity is becoming muddled, truth is slowly slipping away and the culprit is closer than you might want to admit.
In my neck of the woods this is especially the case. Liberalism is in vogue. And apparently so is ignorance (ouch). The philosophy of the anti-Christ is seeping into our society and more alarmingly, right into the church. Truth has been taken for granted and we are seeing the consequences.
What’s the cure? Paul nailed it.
“When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith might not be based on men's wisdom but on God's power.” I Corinthians 2:1-5
Sometimes I think we want people’s faith to be based on our wisdom. We want them to follow us. We think we are so special. We think we have something we can offer humanity.
Brothers, Sisters, we have nothing. Christ is all. In having nothing we gain everything. The power of the Cross! The truth teaching power, the bondage breaking power, and the soul saving power! Preach that. Live that. That’s the challenge.
thanks, micah. i recently read this passage, and thought to myself that those verses would make an excellent "ministry philosophy" for a church. but more importantly, that should be my personal ministry philosophy - to show Christ, and only Christ.
please tell vanessa that heidi (a society friend) says hello.
Posted by: hew at December 13, 2004 01:38 PMBut may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
Posted by: Jon Kopp at December 13, 2004 02:08 PMHeidi - Great to here from you! Vanessa says Hi. We took a look at your blog. Look forward to more conversation. Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your thoughts.
Jon- My man! Great to here from you too. Thanks for the verse. Very applicable. Drop me an e-mail sometime.
Posted by: micahellis at December 15, 2004 10:15 PMPlease note: Comments will not appear immediately. Your comment will appear upon approval by the blog's editor. We had to implement this to decrease the amount of spam that our site receives. Please forgive the inconvenience. We are looking into other, friendlier options.